New in Town

Though its payoff scenes are as predictable as could be, this entertaining romantic comedy is an effective vehicle sure to please Renee Zelweger fans. Well-timed to a winter release (the film's heartwarming Xmas scene occurs early in the story as an intended anticlimax preceding the plot complications to come), this modern fable set in a small town in frozen Minnesota is well-photographed on atmospheric Manitoba locations. Zellweger top lines as the fish out of water, volunteering in her high-profile Miami based conglomerate to head north to makeover a tiny food plant, cut its workforce by half and retool for an automated new product launch. She's the typical jargon-laden, fast-track advancement type, dreaming of CEO-hood and sorely lacking in empathy or any recognizable people-to-people skills. Strutting around in inappropriate high heels (closeups of which are a bit overdone by Danish director Jonas Elmer making his Hollywood debut), she quickly alienates every Minnesotan in sight and looks to be headed for disaster in a hopeless hatchet-woman assignment. Led by a warm & funny supporting turn by Siobhan Fallon Hogan (who channels the local persona even better than Frances McDormand's Oscar-winning stint in Fargo), as her local assistant, a tapioca pudding whiz who spends equal time on scrapping (making scrapbooks) and religiosity, the very cute cast of hayseeds play off hard-bitten Zellweger quite well in a time-honored clash of city smarts vs. folksy wisdom. Sure it's very, very corny, but fun all the same. Harry Connick Jr. plays the area union chief who is always in view as Renee's romantic interest, and there is also a dynamite turn by J.K. Simmons (fresh from his triumph in Juno) as the plant foreman who runs afoul of Renee's plans. New in Town is not in the league of the great old movies of Riskin and Capra, but is genuinely amusing and a fine platform for Zellweger to display both physical & romantic comedy skills. The spectre of layoffs and disappearing companies we are currently living through was probably not in mind when this light feature was scripted and shot, but it resonates as a timely, escapist treatment of all-too-painful realities.

Having spent the 1st 22 years of life in Wisconsin, I got all the jokes, I related to the accent, the unpredictable winter weather, (not the moose but I've been sideways in a ditch a few times) and I definitely related to the small town we can do this attitude and yeah, there can be some attitude towards outsiders too. All in all,, the whole cast did a great job and the movie was cute and heartwarming. I got a kick out of it.

In 1953 Richard Bissel wrote a novel titled "7&1/2 Cents." In 1955 his novel became the book for a Broadway Musical titled "The Pajama Game." Then George Abbott had Bissel write the screenplay for a musical film version of the play. In that movie, as in the book, a female Iowa pajama factory worker who is head of the union at the factory falls in love with a male superintendent who has been hired by the factory's boss to help oppose the workers' demand for a pay rise (7 & 1/2 cents.) Take this book and change the male role into the union rep and make the female role to be an executive from a corporation who want to downsize the candy factory or close it down. Then move it from the Sunny South to the frozen north (Minnesota,) remove the music, and you have this film. I just simply could not get the "The Pajama Game" or "7&1/2 Cents" out of my mind as I watched this film. And the ending was exactly the same.

Guess what is not new in town at your local movie theatre? Another formulaic romantic comedy. This one is called "New in Town" but old in design. Not new= a female protagonist trying to prove that she can tackle any challenge. In this case, a once again mediocre Renee Zellweger plays Lucy Hill; an executive living in sunny Miami who is ordered to reside in cold Minnesota for a few months to play efficiency expert at a company plant. Not new= independent girl bickers with hometown boy and eventually fall in love. In this case, a once again mediocre Harry Connick Jr. plays Ted Mitchell; a Minnesota labor union rep who fights with Lucy and then … well, do I have to repeat myself? Not new= Female protagonist is seen by small town residents as an unruly big city tyrant and then eventually changes her ways because of unforeseen circumstances. In this case, Lucy is seen as the "mad slicer of jobs" by the plant workers until …….. well, do I have to repeat myself again? To say the least, Director Jonas Elmer fuddles and struggles to provide creativity in "New in Town" and does not give Minnesotans justice by copycatting the "Fargo" character playbook. Jonas my brother, sorry to share! Screenwriters Ken Rance and C. Jay Cox did not interject any verbose ingenuity in "New in Town"; in fact, everything sounded kind of old. Now there is something that kind of salvaged the film from the boring cold! That came in the form of another spectacular (also not new, but we like this one) acting performance by the underrated J.K. Simmons as a Plant Foreman. "New in Town" should not be deported from your movie wish list, thanks to Simmons, but then again it is far from being the best new movie in town. *** Average

"do you want me to go over the fireplace?" "no, i'm a city girl but i know how to light a fire. . . . where's the uh the switch?"

I enjoyed this movie and i usually detest romcoms.

this is well written, well acted, well edited and well directed. it has its charming moments and of course a few formulaic ones but all-in-all the cast and writing are so strong it works. great filming too. the music was fitting and the perfect punctuation to some scenes, especially that 10-second tune played as she raises the creative distress flag on her snow-wrecked car antenna. hilarious.

zellweger portrays a believable decisive corporate leader and brings great comedic timing and delivery to the role. i really enjoyed her in this -- she's a very strong lead and her humorous reactions at times reminded me of diaz in The Holiday. despite her corporate trained demeanor you sense a warmer spirit underneath if only it could be thawed, like keaton in Baby Boom.

connick, jr. delivers as always and the easy chemistry between the two makes their interactions relatable and interesting not cringey.

there are laugh out loud moments and only a spare amount of the sentimental romance stuff. and for a union girl like me this movie put the human back in human resources.

a delight.

6.5/10